Hongkong Philharmonic

• syncopation_music

  20 Mar 08, 05:55

  

  

  The Story of the Finest Orchestra in the Pearl of the Orient

  Background

  The orchestra has promoted Hong Kong-based composers by commissioning and premiering numerous works of contemporary music, including the recent five-work cycle of Voices of Hong Kong, by John Chen, David Gwilt, Daniel Law, Law Ping-leung and Richard Tsang.

  In the autumn of 1995, the HKPO travelled to 9 cities in the United States and Canada in its North American début. In 2003, the orchestra made its European début with performances in London's Barbican Hall, Belfast, Dublin and Paris (Théâtre des Champs-Élysées).

  Dutch conductor Edo de Waart has been the orchestra's Artistic Director and Chief Conductor since the 2004/2005 season. Past Music Directors include internationally renowned conductors such as David Atherton, who is now the orchestra's conductor laureate.

  Of its HK$95 million budget for the 2004/2005 season, about sixty percent came from the Hong Kong government. The remaining forty percent came from box office revenue, performance fees, sponsorship, advertising and donations.

  The orchestra gives more than 140 performances annually to an audience of over 180,000 in various venues including the Concert Hall of the Hong Kong Cultural Centre and the City Hall Concert Hall. In addition to classical performances, it occasionally appears backing local pop stars such as Jacky Cheung, Frances Yip and Teresa Carpio.

   

  Conductors

  Artistic Directors 1974-1975 Kek-tjiang Lim (林克昌) 1977-1978 Hans-Gunther Mommer (蒙瑪) 1979-1981 Ling Tung (董麟) 1984-1989 Kenneth Schermerhorn (施明漢) 1989-2000 David Atherton (艾德敦) 2000-2003 Samuel Wong (黃大德) 2004-present Edo de Waart (艾度·è¿ªè�¯ç‰¹)

  Conductor Laureate 2000-present David Atherton (艾德敦) Principal Guest Conductors 1982-1985 Maxim Shostakovich 1984-1993 Kenneth Jean (甄�豪) Resident Conductors 1984-1986 John Lau (劉��) 1986-2000 Wing-sie Yip (葉詠詩)